Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu, has given the reasons why he supported Governor Godwin Obaseki against the immediate past Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, during the September 19, 2020 governorship election in the state.
Speaking at a Thanksgiving service held in honour of former local government chairmen in the state, Shaibu said Oshiomhole fell by the roadside because he stood in the way of the fight against poverty in Edo.
The service held at St. Paul Catholic Church, Benin.
Shaibu said when Oshiomhole was governor, they started the revolution of not placing Edo in the hands of individuals that will mortgage their collective heritage while flying jets all over.
“We said there must be a change and that godfathers must be brought to their kneels and people must decide who lead them while leaders must be accountable to the people and not few godfathers,” he said.
“But, along the line people that didn’t believe in it fell by the roadside, just the way Oshiomhole fell by the roadside because he didn’t actually believe that we should make poverty history in Edo.
“Even the commissioners, SSA and some local government chairmen that resigned from our cabinet didn’t believe in the course because if they did, the fight was needles.”
According to him, the fight was between those who believing in making poverty a history in Edo and those who didn’t believe in it.
He said, “For me people said I am loyal to Obaseki, but I am loyal to a course I believe in. I was brutalised, injured and had my kneel and everything replaced under Oshiomhole’s administration, all this was that some godfathers wanted to derail our making poverty history in Edo, so we fought on the side of the people and the beneficiary of that struggle was Oshiomhole.
“The second fight now, he (Oshiomhole) became the new godfather trying to derail our mission of making poverty history but I fought on the side of Governor Obaseki in making poverty history in Edo.”
He urged the people to support Obaseki, whom he said has replaced politics of thuggery with a new political system where individuals meet, plan and strategize.
Earlier, the Chairman Association of Local Government in Nigeria, Edo state chapter, Jenkins Osunde, commended the state government for giving them the free hand to run the councils.
He noted despite the challenge of COVID-19 pandemic and dwindling allocation, they still delivered on their electoral promises.
